Cats Pajamas winning the Gr 2 @Worldpool Twitter Umkhomazi Stakes under Sean Veale (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Summerveld trainer Frank Robinson and his chief owner Sid Moodley completed a fine month of July at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday and it went close to being an iconic day at the races for the in-form partnership.
On Hollywoodbets Durban July the combination had run one-two in the Gr 3 DSTV Gold Vase with Madison Valley and Shoot The Rapids.
Then on Sunday they won the Gr 2 @Worldpool Twitter Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m with the promising Rafeef colt Cats Pajamas, who was brought home by Sean Veale, and later went oh so close to winning the day’s big one, the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup.
Cats Pajamas had finished third to the crack Sean Tarry-trained pair Cosmic Speed and Proceed in the Gr 2 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m on Hollywoodbets July day.
However, Frank decided to step down in trip to the Umkhomazi rather than up in trip to the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes.
He said about ten days before the race, “He ran a nice race in the Golden Horseshoe and actually looked like he was going to win,but I don’t think he quite stays. He’s better at 1200m. Being out of a Var mare, there is quite a lot of speed in his pedigree and I’m going to put the blinkers on him as well. When he ran second at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in the Gr 3 Goldolphin Barb over 1100m he wore blinkers and was beaten just 1,30 lengths by Cymric. Sean (Veale) feels quite confident with him. He worked him this morning and he worked very well. He’ll be a nice runner on the day. It’s a R500,000 race, so is not as big as the mile race, but the mile is going to be very hard to win with the Sean Tarry pair running.”
Those proved to be inspired words.
Cats Pajama did not jump too well on Sunday, but Veale took the opportunity to go to the rail and he settled him in behind the vanguard.
He ran on well down the inside in the straight and got up to win by 1.05 lengths at odds of 6/1, beating the 9/2 shot DantonfromSandton with the heavily backed 18/10 favourite Bjorn Ironside beaten 1,35 lengths in to third.
Cats Pajamas did hang out at one stage and the stipendiary steward report explains the incident:
Approaching the 100m DANTONFROMSANDTON (R Fourie) which continued to hang in and rolled in, was
carried out by CATS PAJAMAS (S Veale) which rolled out and was immediately corrected. As a result BJORN
IRONSIDE (G Lerena), which was hanging in, was directed out away from the heels of DANTONFROMSANDTON
(R Fourie). A race review was called by Trainer J J van Vuuren and Jockey G Lerena as a result of this incident.
After reviewing the video evidence, no further action was taken.
Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Cats Pajamas was a R600 000 purchase from the 2023 BSA National Yearling Sale.
Cats Pajamas became Rafeef’s 20th black type winner.
His paternal half-brother Outlaw King won the same race back in 2023.
Cats Pajamas is out of the Var mare Sea Cat and is thus bred on the same Rafeef/Var cross as G1 Computaform Sprint winners Master Archie and Thunderstruck.
He looks to have a bright future.
Later Robinson and Moodley’s day nearly becane iconic when the three-year-old Erupt colt Shoot The Rapids only just failed to win the day’s traditional main race, the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup over 3200m.
Frank delivered this colt in magnificent condition just three weeks after he had run second in the Gr 3 DSTV Gold Vase over 3000m.
He was also obviously extremely fit as he was used up quite a lot going very wide around the field on the first turn into a handy position.
Yet in the end he lost by just a neck and it might have been a different story had he not been carried in close to home by eventual fourth-placed Future Swing.
The winner of the Gold Vase, Madison Valley, also ran a good race. He was was well back in the running and ran on well for fifth.
Moodley’s tally for the season increased to 18 wins, including a Gr 2, a Gr 3 exacta and a Non-Black Type feature win.
